


Bodies Make Homes

by 1307



Series: ZA Verse Bethyl Family [2]
Category: The Walking Dead
Genre: F/M, Tagging as I go
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-08-25
Updated: 2016-06-05
Packaged: 2018-04-17 03:08:18
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 17,219
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4649943
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/1307/pseuds/1307
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's been six months since Evelyn Dixon came into the world, and in that six months a lot has changed. With the fences at the prison failing quickly, Daryl, Glenn, and Rick decide to take their families out on the road once again heading east, towards the coast.<br/>Sequel to <i>Heavy</i>.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Rain

**Author's Note:**

> Wowee, so I've had this planned since before Heavy was even finished. And it's finally here! It's a chaptered fic and I'm not sure how long it's going to be. I have a cut off point, but I'm a bit of a rambler if you couldn't tell. I'm posting two chapters tonight and then I suppose I'll post one whenever I finish it. I have four chapters pre-written, so you could get one very soon, or it might take a couple of weeks, I am in college, after all. Anyway, this is so much fun to write and a few of you wanted me to write more of familial bethyl, so here we are.  
> Story title taken from Eisley's _Lights Out_ , which is really such an inspiration for this story and on its playlist I have.

[](http://tinypic.com?ref=14ebdkn)

She remembers it vividly. The sound of Daryl’s boots on the steps outside their cell, the babbles coming out of Evelyn’s mouth as she sat in the middle of their bed, surrounded by pillows. The way he sighed when he got to the door, the sound of his weight pushing the cell door all the way against the wall. Truthfully, he didn’t need to tell her, she already knew. He came in, scooped Evelyn off the bed then allowed himself to fall onto its softness, a welcome comfort from the hard, wooden chairs his ass had been in all day.

Beth sat quietly, going through the pile of clothes that belonged to Evelyn, she was weeding out the ones that were too small for her plump daughter. She’d always been chubby, Dr. S weighed her at a month old with the scale and had discovered she was gaining the appropriate weight for her age, she was just big. Stocky, like a linebacker, as Daryl so beautifully put it. She was basically twenty pounds of squish to be kissed on, the way Beth looked at it. Regardless of the analogy, she was healthy—that was all that mattered, especially after the sickness that wiped through the prison, taking a few members of their beloved family, including Hershel.

It hadn’t been the same since, there was a definite shift. Rick started talking more and more about the prison not being safe. The sickness lingered, the fences were breaking, the winter was too tough; it all led to one thing. Leaving. A decision not thought of lightly, they had to have a plan, and they did. Next spring, Evelyn would be a year old and would travel better, it’d give them more time to prepare, grow food, convince the others that the prison was a death trap. But then Hershel died, and the south fence fell and they had a buildup, they only thing that saved them was the cold—the walkers weren’t strong enough to put up a real fight. The fence was a lost cause, they tried everything they could think of repair it; logs from the forest, reattaching the chain link with wire and chains, blocking the gap with the old bus. Nothing worked, it’s like the walkers knew to come to that area. They didn’t have enough man power to cover it.

She waited for him to talk first, acknowledging his presence with a small smile and she folded a blue onesie that hadn’t fit Evelyn since she was two months old. She had trouble returning clothes Evelyn had worn back to the laundry because she’d caught up in a sentimental trip about how Evelyn first smiled in this outfit or made her first babble in this. So, selfishly, she kept them.

“You already know, huh?” He asked her, moving Evelyn’s wispy red hair over to one side.

“We’re leaving?”

“Couple days.”

She didn’t say much after that, just nodded, there wasn’t much she could do. Her family was leaving, so was she. Choice was out of the question. She went where Daryl and Maggie and Glenn went.

And that’s how she got here, sitting in the back of the old conversion van as rain pounded the roof in a parking lot of some shitty strip mall while Daryl attempted to play target practice with the last few walkers that were roaming around their caravan.


	2. Independence

[](http://tinypic.com?ref=14ebdkn)

Daryl looks over at Glenn, the rain still pouring down their windows and banging against the roof. “We gotta do something.” 

“Like?” Glenn asks, removing his feet from the dashboard. “It’s raining.”

“We should check these stores. Think that one is a pawn shop.” He points straight out of Glenn’s passenger side window, his arm invading Glenn’s personal space. “And in front of Rick’s car is a hardware store.”

“You going to call him on your cell phone?” Glenn asks with a laugh.

“No, you’re going to go tell him.” 

“Me?”

“You’re closest to his car.”

“Are you insane? It’s a downpour out there, Daryl.”

“You the wicked witch of the east?” Daryl asks with a grunt. “Grow a pair.”

Glenn sighs and grabs his hat before opening the door and running over to Rick and Michonne’s car. 

“Didn’t think he’d actually do it.”

-=-

The rain lets up shortly after Glenn returns to the car soaking wet. Daryl almost doesn’t let him inside because he knows the wrath he’s going to get from Tyreese because the car’s a mess.

“We should’ve just waited.” Glenn mumbles as they get out of the car to see what Rick has in mind. They could now see the that there was a hardware store with a large ‘Going out of Business’ sign hanging loosely from the brick exterior, tattered and faded with age. Next door was a shitty looking pawn shop that looked like it hardly did any business before the turn, and next to that was a small rent-to-own furniture store. The only good part of taking back roads was finding places like this is that they probably hadn’t been picked over yet. 

“You lived.” Daryl slaps Glenn on the back as they head over to Rick’s car. The two had become an unstoppable team since Hershel had died, a bond that came from promising the old man that they would do whatever needed to be done to keep his girls safe. It was a no-brainer to both Daryl and Glenn—Evelyn, Beth, and Maggie; they came first. No matter what. They both knew they’d do whatever it took to keep them safe and alive. Even if that meant leaving the rest of the group behind. They had talked about it here and there, what they would do if they needed to. Kill, take things, at one point they even talked about possibly leaving the group if it made sense. They were hoping it didn’t come to that.

Rick steps out of the car and leans against the hood. “Let’s check ‘em out.” 

“Probably some stuff in the hardware store we can use.” Glenn states. “Gas cans, shovels; maybe. There’s some stray cars around here, wouldn’t hurt to see if there’s any gas. We could always use more.” 

“Pawn shop might have some guns.” Daryl adds with a nod. “Looks pretty shitty, but worth the check. I think I got all the walkers. Gonna have to get my bolts.” 

“I’ll get Carl to do it. Last thing he wants is to feel like he’s got nothing to do but watch Judith.” Rick smiles. 

“We gotta find somewhere to stay tonight, Rick. We got kids now, they can’t be cooped up in the car.” Daryl tells him. “Clouds are rolling back in, if it’s any worse than what we just went through we’re gonna get stuck.” 

Rick nods. “I know, we’ll do this quick.”

“Sounds good to me, we’ve only been on the road for an hour and I’m already exhausted.” Glenn sighs.

“Gather up!” Rick hollers across his car with a hand wave. He waits until the rest of the group gathers around his car, excluding Beth and Maggie, who were patiently waiting in the conversion van with the door open so they could hear, and Carl who was on Judith duty in the back seat of the station wagon. “We’re going to check these stores out and then find somewhere to stay for the night.” 

Glenn looks at Daryl, making sure that he agreed with what Rick was saying. They’d come a long way since Atlanta, since the farm.

“Michonne, Daryl, Sasha, Tyreese; you take the pawn shop. Glenn, Carol, Bob, and myself will take the hardware store. Carl is going to go get Daryl’s bolts from the walkers, then hop in the back seat of the van with the girls. Grab whatever you think will help us in the long run. Just remember we’ve got limited space—Michonne, that means no brightly colored cat statues.” 

“You suck the fun out of everything.” Michonne sighs.

-=-

“This was a bust.” Daryl lowers his crossbow after they clear the pawn shop. “Ain’t nothing but a bunch of shitty guitars.” 

“Tyreese and I will check in the offices if you two want to keep looking around.” Sasha tells Daryl and Michonne, signaling her brother to follow.

“Damn she’s bossy.” Daryl mumbles looking at Michonne. “Female Rick Grimes.” 

Michonne laughs as Daryl walks over to the cash register on the glass case. “They’ve got an impressive collection of skateboards over here.”

“Who you thinks gonna be riding a skateboard?” Daryl asks as he feels under the cash register. Boom. Just what he was looking for. “Got a gun, guess the owner didn’t want anyone stealing those skateboards.” He checks the clip, it’s full, but the gun’s a piece of a shit. He’d take it anyway.

“Carl, maybe.” She shrugs. “He might break his arm, actually.”

Daryl scoffs because it’s the last thing they need. He looks over at the glass case; it’s full of gold and silver rings and necklaces. Before the turn and after, actually, marriage was the last thing he thought about. He never thought he would get married because that’s not who he was then. But with Beth, he liked the idea of being hers forever. Not that a ring would make a difference, but he knew that Beth always looked at Maggie’s ring with a hint of jealousy because she wanted one, too. Not that she’d ever say it; Hershel had brought her up to be satisfied with what she had. But that didn’t mean that she didn’t think of the day Daryl would drop to one knee and birds would sing and there would be a ceremony out in the orchard of the prison and they would confess their love to each other in front of the largest apple tree and it would be absolutely perfect.  
He fumbles with the door a little, attempting to get it to budge. It won’t. “Michonne, you wanna give me a hand?” 

She looks over and nods. “More guns?” 

“Nah.” 

Michonne cocks her eyebrow but puts her sword back in its sheath and walks over to the display case. “It’s about time.” She comments, leaning on the case. “We’ve been taking bets.”

“On?” Daryl asks as he finally gets the lock door to move, sliding the door with a loud groan. 

“When you and Beth were going to get married.” 

“Hush. Ain’t nobody getting married.” 

“Mhm…” Michonne smiles as he brings out a tray of rings. “You know what size she wears?” 

“There’s sizes?” 

Michonne laughs. “Yeah, Daryl. Not everyone has the same size fingers.” 

“Fuck.”

Michonne smiles. “You tell me which one you think she’d like and I’ll tell you if I think it’s too big or too small. Sound like a plan?”

“Don’t got much of’a choice.” Daryl looks at the rings, most of them were plain silver or gold. Only a couple with large stones, but he thought that would be pretty impractical anyhow. 

They go through about ten, most of them being way too big until Michonne decides to take over and pull out the ones she thinks will fit Beth’s finger. There aren’t a lot of them, maybe four, and they weren’t the shiniest or the nicest. “This one.” Daryl picks out the prettiest, at least in his eyes; it was a thin silver band with a small oval cut ruby. 

“That’s nice.” Michonne comments. “I think she’ll like it.”

“I hope so.” He pockets the ring and shoves the ring tray back in the case. “We should go see what Sasha and Tyreese are doing.” 

-=-

“No guns?” Rick asks as they meet up next to the station wagon. Glenn and Bob were already siphoning gas out of the cars in the lot. 

“Just the one under the counter. It’s a piece of shit.” Daryl holds it up. “Clips full, though.” 

“Damn.” He sighs and leans against the car. “Anything else?”

“Sasha and Tyreese broke into a snack machine, she’s giving Carl first pick right now. What about you guys?”

“Got some seeds, they still look good. Hoping I learned enough from Hershel to make a garden worth a damn. Two gas cans, an axe, and a shovel. Wasn’t much left, everything was 75% off according to a sign inside, that’s probably why. Maggie and Carl searched the cars they could while we were inside, found some tic-tacs and some magazines. Not much.”

Daryl nods. “Guess we should get out of here then. Find a place for the night, settle in.”

“Sounds like a plan. I thought I saw an entrance to a street of houses when we came through here. We’ll go there.” 

“You lead.” Daryl didn’t really have the time for what Rick thought he saw, but he also didn’t have time—or the energy—to argue either. 

-=- 

Rick pulls into the first driveway that doesn’t have cars or walkers in it. It’s two houses into the street and has two stories. It looks big enough for all of them to fit, they’ll be on top of each other, but they’ll fit. That was really the only criteria. Daryl pulls in next to him and Sasha pulls in behind him. It’s a tight fit, especially with the land yacht that is Rick’s station wagon, but they make it and that’s the important part. 

With their venture in, they’ve caught the attention of a few walkers who have slowly started to meander down both sides of the streets. 

It’s nothing worse than what they’re used to. 

They don’t even need a signal, they all get out and start fighting them off, headshot after headshot until there’s a pile in front of the driveway of twenty walker corpses.  
Rick and a couple of the others had gone to case the place, with Glenn leading a group around back and Rick taking the front. “We’re gonna check the house.” Daryl tells Beth as he opens the passenger side door, setting his crossbow on the roof of the van and grabbing the red kerchief from his pocket. “Clear it out before the kids come in, Tyreese and Carol are going to bring some stuff in for dinner. I think we’re gonna make it just in time.”

Beth nods, attempting to console Evelyn the best she can from her seat. It’s not even a minute later when the back door on the driver’s side slides open and Carl helps Judith inside. “Should’ve just stayed back here with you.” He sighs, wishing that he could help, but Rick won’t let him.

“At least it shouldn’t take that long with all of them in there clearing it out.” 

“Hopefully.” 

-=-

“Daryl, Tyreese, Glenn, Bob; let’s start moving these walkers out of the way so we can burn them tomorrow, we’ll get as much done as we can before the rain starts.” Rick starts. “Michonne, Sasha, Maggie, and Carl; check the house for supplies. Anything of note bring it down to kitchen. Carol and Beth; you two watch the kids and start dinner. Any questions?”

Everyone shakes their heads and the boys start heading for the walkers out in the street. 

“You want her jumperoo?” Maggie asks as she grabs Evelyn’s bag from the hatch on the van. 

Beth nods and adjusts Evelyn on her hip. “Yeah, keep her out of trouble.” 

Maggie takes the jumperoo and follows Beth inside. “Just like old times, before the prison.” She hopes the trip from the prison to their next destination doesn’t go as poorly as the one from the farm to the prison did. When they were starving and cold and Lori was sad all the time. 

“Yeah, just like old times.” Beth repeats, stepping into the house for the first time. There’s a staircase to her left which Sasha is climbing with her gun at the ready, despite already clearing the area. The kitchen is straight back down a hallway, she can see Carol already setting cans on the counter. To the left of the staircase is a small sitting room with a bookcase and a rather comfy looking chair. 

“Living room’s to the right of the kitchen, Beth.” Maggie states from behind. “We’ll put her in there.” 

“Sounds good.” They walk the hallway and Maggie points out that the bathroom is to the right of the front door and the door in the middle of the hallway is a laundry room; there might be some clothes in the dryer they can use. 

The living room and kitchen are divided only by a lower hanging beam, beneath it a kitchen table butted up against a small loveseat. It’s a little strange, but Beth things it’ll suit them just fine for a couple of days. Judith is already sitting on the couch in the living room with her baby doll, trying to figure out what the TV is, since she hadn’t seen one until now, which weirds Beth out a little, that Evelyn will probably never know what a TV or a movie is; she’ll just hear about them like Beth used to hear about World War II or a phone with dial; seeing and hearing about them, but never experiencing it. “I’ll take her Beth, you help Carol.” 

Beth looks up at Maggie who is grabbing Evelyn from her arms and nods. “Okay, yeah.”

“You alright, Bethie?” She asks.

“Just thinking, I’m fine.” 

Maggie nods and heads into the living room, plopping the jumperoo down, making all of the beads and other plastic annoyances go off. 

“You wouldn’t believe how much pasta is in the basement!” Carl exclaims, busting through the basement door right off the kitchen, the wind must have blown it shut when Carol opened the windows to get a breeze going through the house. “There’s at least four more boxes down there, I grabbed all I could carry!” He lets the boxes fall from his arms and onto the counter. “All kinds, too. Like those big ones you use for lasagna and the elbows for mac and cheese. There’s a whole bunch of plastic bins down there, too. They might have some cool stuff.” 

Carol looks at him before grabbing three of the boxes from the stash. “Anyone opposed to spaghetti?”

“That sounds great, Carol.” Beth tells her truthfully, they haven’t had pasta in…ages. They never had enough of it to feed the entire prison, so it usually just got added to soup in the winter. “I’ll check the pantry for some sauce, there has to be some with all that pasta lying around.” 

Maggie walks behind her, squeezing her shoulder before giving Carl a light push to the basement. “Let’s see what else they’ve got hidden down here.” 

They head down the stairs, the wood creaking underneath them as Beth heads over to the pantry, fingers tapping on the doorknob, she isn’t sure if anyone even bothered to check it; see if there was a walker inside. She twists the silver knob and pulls it gently, only about an inch or so out, nothing pushes against it to open it more, so she opens it fully. “Uh, Carol.” She breathes, staring at the shelves in front of her.

“Is something wrong?” Carol asks, crossing the kitchen to stand behind her. “Guess we didn’t need to bring those cans in after all.” There’s a smile in her voice.

“No, there’s enough here for a couple days.”

Carol pats her on the back. “Wanna go through it and find me some pasta sauce? Maybe some mushrooms?” 

-=-

Since the stove didn’t work, Carol was out on the back covered deck attempting to build a fire to boil the water from the sink on to cook the pasta. Maggie had started to help Beth go through the canned goods in the pantry, while Carl watched the girls in the living room while flipping through a stack of old car magazines. Daryl had promised to start teaching him how to work on cars as soon as they found somewhere to stay; there wasn’t enough time back at the prison. 

Maggie had taken some cues from her father’s pantry inventory list, making one for the group as well. She had started it back when she and Beth were going through the prison’s pantry to split the stockpile down the middle; half for their group, half for the people staying at the prison, but eventually they got pressed for time so she couldn’t complete it. She had found some old computer paper in the room with the bookcase and a ruler and Sharpie, and started to make even columns on the page while Beth sat on the floor separating the goods by type. 

“Oh no!” Carol exclaims as she walks through the open sliding glass door off the kitchen. Beth looks over to see her rushing through the sliding door from the deck and down the hallway. “No! Daryl Dixon if you walk through that door I swear I will skin you like a deer!” 

Beth gets up, wanting to see why Carol was threatening her boyfriend. 

“You are _not_ making a mess in here!” She has the glass storm door open, standing in front of the boys who are drenched to the bone and covered in blood and dirt and everything else nasty. “You are not bringing mud in here; this isn’t the prison.”

“What do you suggest we do, colonel?” Daryl asks with a grunt. 

“Strip. All of you, shoes, socks; everything. Sasha said there’s clean clothes upstairs.” 

Beth stifles a laugh from behind Carol. 

Daryl’s suddenly glad he stashed the ring in the van’s ashtray when Beth wasn’t looking. The last thing he wants is for her to find it before he’s ready to make his grand gesture. 

“You’ve got to be joking.” Glenn laughs. “It’s just mud, nothing some paper towels can’t fix.”

“If you’d all stop complaining you’d be done and on your way upstairs. There’s two showers; both work. No hot water. You don’t strip, you don’t get dinner.” 

“Can we at least keep our underwear on?” Tyreese asks. “I don’t want to offend anyone.”

Carol stares him down and he takes it as a yes.

The boys mutter under their breaths and eventually start removing their wet, dirty clothing, depositing it all in a pile near the outdoor couch. 

By this time Maggie has popped her head around the wall. “Dinner and a show? How’d we get so lucky?” 

“It’s like the Chip’N’Dales.” Beth laughs as Carol moves to the side, letting the boys come in. 

“Glad you girls are finding this funny.” Glenn mutters as he follows Rick up the stairs. 

-=-

Glenn and Tyreese moved the kitchen table into the dining room so they could all eat together at one table. It took a couple of tries to get it through the archway that connected the kitchen and dining room, but eventually they did it. And they only punched one hole in the wall. Carl drew a pair of wonky eyes above it and Michonne said it looked like modern art. 

Because they took the table, Beth and Maggie’s inventory of the canned goods would have to be put off until tomorrow. Maggie was helping Carol prepare a garlic glaze from water and some garlic powder they found in the kitchen cabinets to put on some of her famous crispy bread. Glenn was setting the table, Sasha and Bob were playing with Judith and Evelyn, Rick was taking a shower and Michonne was preparing a salad out of some of the lettuce they brought from the prison. It was going to be a feast tonight, a celebration of surviving their first day of independence. 

Beth was on laundry duty; something she was glad for. She loved her family very much, but she was getting a little claustrophobic with all of them on the first floor. She liked being outside, watching as lightning filled the skill accompanied by the booms of thunder as she slapped the pieces of offensive clothing on the rails of the porch to try and get as much blood and dirt off them as possible. She was almost done now, by herself she got the job done much quicker than she would’ve if someone was distracting her by helping.  
She hears the storm door open and two heavy steps on the small rug outside the door. It was Daryl, she didn’t even bother turning around, instead she added a cap of laundry detergent they found inside the house to one of their big, blue bins she was using as a makeshift wash basin. 

“Carol says dinner’s about ready.”

“That’s good, I’m getting hungry.” Beth throws in the boys clothes, starting with their jeans.

“Glenn found some wine in the garage, too.”

Beth turns around and smiles. “Surprised we haven’t found any yet.” 

“Need some help?” He asks, watching as she adds a few more pieces of clothing. 

As if Daryl Dixon of all people would help with laundry. “No, I’m almost done. Going to let these soak while we eat, then I’ll rinse ‘em out.” 

“Ya alright?” He asks, it’s almost in the same tone he asked her almost a year and a half ago when Zach died. That same unsure quietness. “You don’t feel sad or nothing?”

She shakes her head. “It’s nice here, I don’t think I can take living here for more than a week, but I like it. It’ll do for now. It’s safe…ish.” 

He nods and walks over to her, grabbing her hand. “You know I got you, right?” He asks, looking into her eyes, running his thumb over hers. “And Evelyn. Nothing’s gonna happen.”

Beth nods because she knows Daryl’s intentions are good, she _knows_ Daryl would do anything and everything to make sure that he protected his girls. She knows about the pact with Glenn and her daddy and she knows he wouldn’t break it. She knows that sometime down the line she very well be woken up in the middle of the night and whisked and away with Evelyn and her sister while the rest of her chosen family slept, never to see them again. She knows these things and before Evelyn and before her daddy died, she would have a problem with it; they had to stick together. But now, there’s no way she could let anyone put Evelyn in danger, even if their intentions were good. 

And she knows Rick has the best intentions as a leader, he’s proven that tenfold. 

But she also knows that Rick doesn’t know everything and she knows she trusts Daryl’s gut more than Rick’s. 

The door creaks and Carl sticks his head out. “Dad’s opening the wine.” He tells them before closing the door softly. 

“Guess we better get inside then.” Daryl kisses her cheek and leads her in. 

-=-

When Carol said feast, she meant it. In between the cluster of candles in the dining room was heaping bowl of spaghetti, an overflowing plate of bread, and Michonne’s salad. There was a matching spread on the smaller kitchen table, but it wasn’t as substantial as the regular dining room table’s. 

Next to each plate was a glass of water—Beth was actually kind of excited to be drinking out of a real glass, not some crinkly water bottle that made noise every time you opened it. 

Rick was in the kitchen pouring everyone a glass of wine—except Carl. Bob and Beth both declined a glass, even though she wanted some, with breastfeeding Evelyn, she didn’t think it was a good idea. 

“C’mon dad, just a sip!” He pleads. 

Rick stares at him. “Carl, you’re not old enough.” 

“Does that even matter anymore? You let me try some at the CDC.”

“A sip, a small one.” Rick sighs giving in and extending the glass. “You’re not going to like it, you haven’t changed that much.” 

Carl smiles as he looks over the glass, the red liquid sloshing around, almost spilling. He brings it to his lips and takes the smallest sip before tearing the glass away from him and shoving it at his father. “That’s _disgusting_.” 

“I told you, Carl.” Rick laughs. 

-=-

Evelyn had finally gone to sleep, it had taken longer than normal. Beth was hoping it wasn’t going to become a normal thing and was only because of the excitement of the day. 

Daryl and Beth were taking the guest room for the night, with Tyreese and Carol in the kid’s bedroom next door, it had two single beds so it made sense. Rick, Judith, and Michonne were sharing the master bedroom since the bed was the biggest and could fit all three of them comfortably without it being awkward. Carl was on the floor in a sleeping bag. Sasha and Bob were guarding the front of the house while Maggie and Glenn had the back. Each one of them would have an hour or so off to crash on the couch in the living room. 

Beth walks out into the hallway, closing the door to the bedroom all but a couple of inches in case she started crying. 

“Want me to keep an ear out for her?” Tyreese asks as he comes up the stairs. “I was going to try and wind down with a book.”

“You don’t mind?” 

He shakes his head. “No, go be with Daryl.” He pats her back as he walks down into his bedroom. 

“Thank you.”

Beth carefully walks down the stairs, feeling the cushy carpet between her toes. It had been so long since she felt carpet or hardwood, she had been so used to the cold concrete of the prison. 

Daryl is sitting in the big comfy chair in the room with the bookcase, his feet propped up on its matching ottoman and a map in his hand, bright pink pencil in the other. He’s studying it hard, lightly tapping the pencil against the chair’s arm. She’s not really sure how he can read it in the small amount of light the two candles in the room are providing. She makes her way over to the chair and eases herself on, cuddling into Daryl’s side. “Whatcha doing?” She asks before pressing a kiss to his bare shoulder and tries to look at the map the best she can. 

“Waiting for Rick to put Judith down so we can figure out what we’re doin’.” 

“We stayin’ for a couple days?” 

“Prolly. Clear the houses, get some supplies, be on our way.” 

“You got some place in mind?” 

“Kinda, gotta see what the boss says.” 

Beth smiles as she hears Rick come down the stairs. “I’ll let you boys get to it then, find us somewhere nice.”

-=-

Rick and Daryl moved to the vacated dining room table and were joined by Glenn and Sasha moments later. 

“I thought we’d clear some houses tomorrow. If we split up into three teams, we can take out six houses in the neighborhood before dinner.” Sasha tells them. “The houses around here aren’t that big, we’d really only need two of us per. They’re close together, too, if something got out of hand we’d be able to help each other.” 

Rick nods. “That’s good; I like that. That only ties up six of us, too. We can have Beth and Tyreese stay here with the girls; that leaves three extra bodies.”

“Lots of cars, those three could check for gas; we could always use more.” Glenn offers up. “I know the van is almost on empty, we could fill them up before we send people out, give us more room in our cans.” 

“Any suggestions of where we go next?” Sasha asks. “This place is nice, but we’re on a main back road, anybody could stumble across us. We’d be trapped.”

“I know a place.” Daryl points to the map. “Merle and I was talking about heading up there one year for huntin’ season, but it always fell through.” 

“Sumter National Forest?” Glenn asks. “Heard of that before, I think.” 

“It’s in South Carolina. They got cabins and a lake, we could stay there for a little while until we figure out where we’re goin’. It ain’t quite huntin’ season yet, but there’s probably somethin’ out.”

“It out of the way?” Sasha asks. 

“Yeah, you gotta drive inside it to get to the cabins. There’s a couple ways out, too, Merle knew a guy. That’s what he said.” 

“How far is it?” Rick scratches his chin, not exactly sure if he wants to take the word of Merle Dixon.

“About five hours before, I’d say no more than seven now.” 

“You think it’ll be overrun?” 

“Could be, but nothin’ more than what we’re used to.” 

“We’ll talk it over in the morning. I’m sure it’ll go over well.”

-=-

“You working on that novel again?” Daryl asks from the door as Beth lies on her stomach, facing Evelyn’s pack-n-play at the end of the bed. 

“It’s not a novel, I told you that.” She smiles. 

“Might as well be.” 

She shakes her head with a smile. “You got things worked out?” 

He nods. “Clearing tomorrow and the next day. Probably head out after that.” 

“Where we going?” 

Daryl walks in the room, closing the door lightly behind him. “Probably the Sumter National Forest. For now.”

“Living in the woods like some axe murderers.” 

“Exactly.” 

“It nice there?”

“Yeah, Merle and me planned on going before the turn. Must’ve made plans about a dozen times, every single time it fell through. Merle’d get arrested, didn’t have the cash, whatever.”

“You still made the plans, though.” Beth sits up in the bed, tucking her legs under her. 

“You’ve met Merle, didn’t have a choice.” 

Evelyn starts to fuss from her bed. “I got her. Already up.” He walks around the bed and peeks over the worn rails of the pack-n-play. He really needed to find her a new one, by the time she starts to crawl and stand she’ll be able to rip right through the old mesh. Evelyn looks at him with a pout on her face, her bottom lip quivering. Between her and Beth, Daryl’s got his work cut out for him. “What’s wrong lil’ Bug?” He asks, picking her up and bringing her to his chest. “You hungry?” 

“She ate when I put her down, it shouldn’t be that.”

Daryl looks down at her. “Did you poop?”

“She can probably just sense that I’m nervous, Daryl.”

“Why you nervous?” He asks, moving Evelyn so her head was lying on his shoulder. 

Beth shrugs. “I don’t know, I guess because it’s a new place and it doesn’t feel as safe as the prison. There’s no fences—as weak as they might’ve been, and we’re on a street that isn’t really protected by anything. Anyone could be out here watching us. I don’t like it, is all.” 

Daryl nods and rubs Evelyn’s back. “It’s gonna be fine, Sasha’s out there on the porch parading her damned rifle around. Nothing’s gonna happen.” Daryl sits on the bed, letting himself rest against the headboard. “I’ll find us a nice place, I promise you Beth. With walls and room for a garden, somewhere for Bug to play.”

“I know you will, Daryl.”


	3. Stranger

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yikes! i know i was supposed to have this up sooner (it's been written since i posted chapter 1), but i kind of forgot and then i got busy. forgive me? :D please?

[](http://tinypic.com?ref=14ebdkn)

“Mornin’,” Beth presses a kiss to Daryl’s cheek, pushing against him to sit up. 

He opens his eyes with a groan and looks down at his chest. “Where’s Bug?”

“In her bed. You fell asleep holding her.” 

“Everyone else up?”

“Carol is, I heard her out in the hallway.” Beth climbs over Daryl since Evelyn’s bed was blocking the path for her side. “I was going to go help her with breakfast. I just wanted to make sure you were up.” 

“Yeah, ‘m up. That’s about the best sleep I’ve had in a while.” 

“I know.” Beth smiles, digging through their suitcase to get a change of clothes out. “You were out like a light as soon as Evelyn stopped wiggling. Can you handle getting her dressed?”

“Mhm, I’ll change her butt, too.” 

Beth smiles. “There’s some sheet diapers in her bag, I want to save the disposable ones for when we don’t have a place to wash out the other ones.”

“Makes sense.”

“Oh, and can you do me a favor, please?” 

“Anything.”

“I noticed the house to the left has a swing set and slide, do you think you could clear that one first? So the girls can play on it later?”

“I’m sure it won’t be a problem.” 

-=-

“Good morning, Beth.” Carol smiles. “Sleep well?”

“Yeah, it’s amazing what a real mattress can do.” Beth grabs her glass from last night and fills it from the sink, she and Maggie had written everyone’s names on the cups with the Sharpie, not that it really mattered. “You?”

“Aside from Tyreese moving every five minutes, yes.” She’s already pinching pieces off of the dough to cook. She had the plastic containers they had found in the pantry already out, dipping into the house’s supply instead of their own. “I don’t think he fit on that small bed very well.” 

“Need any help?” 

“Dig through the cans and find some fruit? Anything will do. It’s not going to be as elaborate as last night.”

“Yeah, that was really good, Carol. It was nice to see people smiling at their dinner for once.” Beth walks over to the pile of cans she and Maggie still needed to sort through and starts to look at the labels, trying to find any kind of fruit. 

The sounds of a bundle of energy coming down the stairs cause both women to look towards the hallway, where Judith is running at full speed with Rick attempting to catch her. Her hair is longer, but still dark and thick—just like Lori’s, and it swishes from side to side as she runs. Rick hadn’t exactly nailed down piggy tails yet. “No!” She screeches. “No pants, daddy!” 

“Judith! You have to put pants on! No one wants to see your butt, come back here.” 

Judith climbs over the cans and gets behind Beth, peeking around her shoulder, watching her dad. 

“I’ve got it, Rick.” Beth extends her hand and Rick sighs and gives up the little striped pants. 

“Thanks, Beth.” 

“Tough morning?” Carol asks with a laugh. 

“Judith will you please put your pants on?” She asks when Judith moves to her left, lightly nudging a can with her toe. 

“No pants.”

“Jude, we all have to wear pants.”

“Na-uh! Not Ev!”

“Evelyn is a baby, you’re a big girl, Judith. Big girls wear their pants.” 

Judith shifts on her feet, ignoring Beth.

“You’re a big girl aren’t you?”

Judith nods, still shifting on her feet. 

“Judith, will you please put them on?”

“Yes.” 

“Thank you. Go get your daddy to help, I have to help Carol, okay?”

Judith nods and takes the pants from Beth and runs over to Rick, holding them above her head. 

-=-

They all sat around the table, shoving the fruit salad and bread into their mouths. No one talked except Judith who was naming the fruits in her bowl that she could. Mostly everything was an orange. 

“We’re gonna check houses after breakfast. Sasha thought we’d only need two people per house since they’re small and close together. I agree with her.” Rick starts after he finishes his fruit. “I’ll have someone with legible handwriting make up some lists of what we need before we head out—Maggie, you up for the job?”

“Yeah, sounds good.” 

“Tyreese, I’m going to have you stay here with Beth and the girls, I want you four to stay on the property until we come back for lunch. Sasha, I’m putting you with Glenn. You’re taking the blue house next door. Michonne, you’re with Bob in the white house at the end of the street. Daryl, you’re with me in the house across from the white one. Maggie, Carol, and Carl I want you three on the cars in front of those three houses, okay? Gas first, then search them for anything we might need. Everyone good with that?” 

There’s a collective ‘yeah’ from around the table as people start to finish up their breakfast. 

-=-

“Ready?” Rick asks as they walk up to the door. Luckily the thunder and lightning last night didn’t bring any walkers out of hiding from around the street. It was about as calm as it could get, just the sounds of their family’s boots on the concrete and the sound of Carl attempting to break into a car in the driveway. 

“As I’ll ever be.” 

Rick breaks the first of four small windows on the left of the brown door before listening carefully to make sure no walkers were roaming around in the house and wanted his hand for breakfast. Daryl keeps his bow at the ready, pointed towards the door as Rick sticks his hand through the broken glass and feels around and finding the lock. Only the top deadbolt is secured, so he quickly turns it and pulls his hand to safety. 

“We gon go in or stand here?” Daryl asks as Rick grabs his knife from its sheath. 

Rick grabs the handle and turns it with his free hand, pushing it open. “After you.” 

Daryl grunts as he makes his way up the two steps and into the house. It’s similar to the one they’ve taken over, just messier. These people obviously left, there were books missing on the shelves, slight discolorations on the walls where family photos once hung. Rick follows Daryl up the stairs, they aren’t the cushy carpet that Beth loves so much, instead it’s hardwood, their boots are heavy against it, partly to help draw out any walkers that may be upstairs. 

“Room on the left first.” Rick whispers from behind. 

“Got it.” 

Daryl busts through the cracked door, crossbow at the ready. All they find is drawers pulled out with clothes missing. The bed is bare and so are the tops of the side tables, save for the lamps. 

They move out into the hallway and search the other two rooms, an office and a spare bedroom. Both are completely void of anything useful except a stack of towels they find in the closet in the office. 

“Perfect size for diapers.” Rick notes as he holds up the unfolded towel. “Considering we have nothing but room in our packs we’ll take ‘em.” 

“Our kids do shit a lot.”

Rick laughs as he slings his orange backpack off and shoves the towels in. “Think yours is worse.”

“Yeah, probably. Takes after her ol’ man.” Daryl opens a drawer on the desk. Empty. “Ain’t nothing up here, might as well head downstairs. Maybe they left somethin’ down there.”

-=-

“I should probably start getting lunch together.” Beth notes from the floor, writing the word ‘corn’ in an evenly spaced box on Maggie’s supply chart. 

Tyreese was sitting in the living room flipping through a magazine with Judith on his left and Evelyn on his right. “What’re you thinking?” 

“We have an abundance of refried beans.”

“The magical fruit, huh Judith?”

Beth smiles. “There’s still some left over dough from breakfast this morning, I could roll it out real thin and roll the beans in it. A taco kind of thing.”

“I’m glad you and Carol are in charge of feeding us, you put us guys in there and we’d be eating straight out of the can. No frills, just cold beans.”

“I’m glad you aren’t in charge of feeding us either.” Beth grimaces and sets down her pencil, the same pink one Daryl was using last night. “You ever wonder where we’ll end up?” Beth asks as she gets up, picking up the paper and pencil after. “Like when we eventually settle down.”

“Sometimes. Not something I try to think about—not anymore. Talked it over with Karen before, we wanted kids, somewhere safe. Now I just take it day-by-day.” 

Beth bites her bottom lip, she never really thought about how horrible it must’ve been for Tyreese to lose Karen. “Yeah.”

“You?”

“I have to, you know? With Evelyn.” Beth grabs two of the cans of refried beans off the floor. “I like to think it’ll be someplace super safe with walls but I’m just not sure if that’s realistic anymore. I mean if prison gates can’t keep them out, what can?” 

-=-

“These people weren’t messing around.” Rick sighs as he opens the final cabinet in the kitchen. “Cleared it completely out, nothing left.” 

“Shit, really?” Daryl asks from the pantry door; it was the same, complete empty except for a small, cheap tool kit that was missing some pieces. 

“Afraid so. Hopefully everyone else had some better luck.” 

Daryl places the tool kit on the table, lifting the clear lid so he could get a better look at the tools inside. “I’d leave this behind, too.” Daryl mutters as he holds the lightweight hammer in his hand. “Piece of shit.” 

“We’ll take it anyway.” Rick comes over to the table and peers over Daryl’s shoulder. “The nails might be good.”

“Yeah, all six of ‘em.” Daryl scoffs, placing the hammer back inside. 

“We should head on back.” Rick pats Daryl on the back. “Get ready for the next house.”

-=-

“Any luck?” Tyreese asks from the porch, watching carefully as Judith drew a ‘pig’ on the concrete of the small path that led from the driveway to steps of the porch; really, it was just a big pink blob. 

Rick shakes his head, crouching down next to Judith. “Completely cleaned out. We found some towels we can use as diapers and a toolkit that missing some of its pieces. That’s it.”

“Damn.” Tyreese sighs. “Hope the others were lucky.”

“Me too.” Rick runs his hand through Judith’s hair. 

-=-

Daryl leans against the wall, watching as Beth opens one of the cans of refried beans. Since it was so quiet, he figures Bug is upstairs taking a nap. She’s humming something, he can just hear it over the crackles the can opener is making as it cuts through the aluminum. She’s stunning, he’s aware, he’s known it for a long time now, but the way the light is coming through the small window over the sink, mixed with the darkness of the middle of the house, he sees her in a whole new way. The light summer wind stirring the curtains and her hair. There’s a thin layer of sweat covering her exposed collar bone and shoulder. If only he had a camera. 

She finally gets the can opened and she removes the top, tossing it in the pile of other disposed lids that Bob was going to fashion into some kind of weapon; that’s what he said at least. He’d believe that when he saw it. With a silicone spatula in her hand she scoops the mess of gray mixture into a pan with a plop. 

“What’re you making?” 

Beth gasps and almost drops the can onto the counter. “Daryl!” She breathes. “I’ve told you not to sneak up on me.” 

Daryl laughs to himself. “Actin’ like I put on a Halloween mask and jumped at you.”

“Might as well have. Jerk.” She continues scooping every last bit of the beans out. “It’s supposed to be little tacos but we’ll see if ends up going that way. You find anything?”

“No, empty.” 

She looks over and gives a small frown. “I’m sorry, Dar.” 

He shrugs. “Still got a street of houses. We’ll be fine.” 

“Did you decide on the forest yet?”

“Waiting on Rick.”

“For?”

“He wants to bring it up.”

“Does it really make a difference?” Beth asks grabbing the second can. 

“To him it does. Where’s Bug?”

“Upstairs, she’s probably awake.” Beth looks at him, silently hinting for him to go get her. 

He sets his crossbow down on the floor, next to the basement door. “I’ll get her.” 

“Thank you.” 

“Mhm.” 

-=-

She’s wiggling around in her bed when Daryl gets upstairs and manages to open the curtain to get some light in. This is exactly how she got the nickname Bug, because she’s a wiggle worm, always moving something; her feet, her arms, her body. Beth didn’t like it when Daryl called Wormy, so he went with Bug, somehow one was more acceptable than the other. 

She smiles at him, all gums except the two little white dots where her first teeth were starting to come in. 

“Did you have a good nap, Bug?” He asks, using the excited voice he reserves for her and her alone. No grumbles, just a dad talking to his daughter; it’s not high pitched and annoying how Rick would talk to Judith when she was smaller. It’s his own, quiet, comforting voice. He leans over and picks her up, pressing a kiss to her slobbery cheek. “I’ve been missin’ you.” He presses another kiss to her other cheek. “You miss your ol’ man?”

She babbles away and puts her hand on his cheek, her eyes wide like Beth’s. “You hungry? Mama’s the only one who can help you with that, sorry. Let’s go downstairs and see everyone, huh?” She moves her hand to his mouth and blows a raspberry against it, making Evelyn giggle, prompting Daryl to do it again. Her laughs were his favorite sound, especially since they were so honest. Just a baby laughing at a fart noise. “I bet Auntie Maggie is chopping at the bit to her hands on you. Glenn’s in trouble, huh? Hopefully he’ll be smart and wait until we find us a place. I’ll beat his butt if I have to.” 

-=-

“We got you something, Beth!” Glenn announces as he comes down the hallway. Beth looks over her shoulder as she flattens another round of bread for the beans. Carol had taken over the stove when she, Maggie, and Carl came in through the garage, depositing their haul of gas, candles, matches, and other car related finds that Daryl was going to go through tonight. 

“What is it?” She asks, a hint of nervousness to her voice. From Glenn, it could be anything. One time out on a run he got her a Barbie because for some reason he thought she would be into that, but he’s also been known to get useful stuff, like Evelyn’s beloved jumperoo. 

“A baby gate! Tyreese is bringing it in. It’s thin enough we can put it in the van. I thought it’d be useful once she starts crawling if we’re in another house or something.” 

“Thanks Glenn, that’s really sweet.” She smiles. “Find anything else good?” 

“No food, but we found some batteries and a couple lighters. And I finally got Maggie a new blanket, she hates the other one. Says it’s not warm enough, but really she just thinks it’s ugly.”

“Sounds like Maggie.”

He smiles and sets his bag on the ground. “What’re you making? I’m starving.”

“Refried beans and thin bread.”

“As long as it doesn’t have anything to do with mustard, I’m sold.” 

-=-

Michonne and Bob come in a few minutes after Glenn and Sasha unloaded their bags with help from Maggie and Rick. They had the best score so far; they had found food. Not much, mostly just things in the pantry you usually forget about, but between Carol and Beth, they could do something with it. 

“Daryl thinks he found a good place for us to go once we’re done clearing this street out.” Rick announces once the beans and bread had started to make their way around the table. 

“Where?” Tyreese asks, scooping a portion of beans on his plate. 

“Sumter National Forest. Before the turn it’d be about five hours, now we’re probably looking at no more than seven if we don’t run into a snag on the roads.” Daryl states, bouncing Evelyn on his knee. “It’s a camp and hunting ground, a good place for us to go; out of the way, get supplies. Figure out where we’re going next.” 

“You gonna finally teach me how to hunt, Dixon?” Bob asks with a laugh. 

“Gonna need all the help I can get.” 

“Alright, I’m cool with that. Might be nice to sleep under the stars again.” 

Sasha laughs and shakes her head. “I’m there if everyone else is.” 

“Obviously we’re with you, Daryl.” Maggie responds, tapping Glenn’s hand as he nods. 

“Carol? Michonne?” Rick asks.

Michonne nods. “I go where you go.” 

“Well I’m not staying here by myself.” Carol smiles. 

“Glad to hear it.” Rick smiles. “We’ll do another round of houses tonight and we’ll do the last four tomorrow morning, spend the afternoon doing an inventory of supplies and resorting, and in the evening will pack up. Head out early. If all goes as planned we should get there just around lunch time.” 

“Does anything ever go as planned?” Glenn asks, causing the table to erupt in laughter. 

-=-

“Good luck.” Beth calls from the porch, Evelyn on her hip, as Daryl and Rick make their way down the driveway to go to the other end of the street. 

Daryl waves his hand in response as Beth looks over to Tyreese, who is sitting on the outdoor couch, half asleep. “Oh no, no naps. Not for you anyway. I need you to start bringing in the food totes from the cars so I can keep doing the inventory.” 

“Then what should I do?” He asks. “I feel bad you doin’ all this work.”

“Start bringing the clothes from the dressers and closets down so people can pick what they want so we’re not bringing anything unnecessary.” 

“I can do that. What about the little one?”

“I’m hoping she’ll nap, but she might have other plans. Judith usually stays out of trouble if she has some toys.” 

-=-

Evelyn does end up taking a nap, Tyreese brings her bed down and put it in the living room next to the couch where Judith was, thankfully, passed out. With both kids down the two of them could more done. 

First, Beth added three columns to the inventory chart, one for each bin that went in the car for food. Then she started to take every can and box she and Maggie spent all that time putting in there. At least it wasn’t much, only about sixty cans, a little over double what she and Carol found in the pantry.  
The hard part would be dividing the cans into groups, then subdividing those groups into threes. At least she wasn’t having to make a bunch of trips up and down the stairs like Tyreese, packing those heavy clothes down and setting them on the tables. She was hoping Carol and Maggie would be back soon so she didn’t have to stop to make dinner; she really had no idea what she would even make. 

-=-

The house clearings are much more fruitful this time around. They find more candles and lighters, a couple winter jackets that they’ll need eventually with heading east, seeds for crops and a couple of old planter boxes to put them in so they can plant now and transport them, a first aid kid, and a couple more assorted bins for them to put stuff in. 

For three houses, it’s not a lot, but that they found anything at all is truly a reason to be thankful. Beth remembers after the farm, when they were in those disgusting storage units and moving from house to house, running on nothing but fumes. They had no sleep and nothing in their bellies. She really doesn’t know how Lori did it, how she stayed so strong. She wonders if things now would be different had Lori made it, she wonders if she would’ve made it through her pregnancy. If Evelyn would even exist. It’s not something she likes to think about often; the past that far back. What ifs and should haves, she’s here now with rice and peppers cooking out on the porch, her sweet daughter is slobbering all over her daddy, she has a roof over her head. Things are good, for now. 

-=-

The peppers and rice go over well; it always does. It was a crowd-pleaser back at the prison, usually paired with rabbit. Not tonight, though. It’s fine, they have more than enough to make it a meal with an added can of refried beans to the leftovers from earlier. 

After dinner they end up sitting in the living room going through the clothes they found in different houses and the ones that Tyreese brought from upstairs, picking things that would fit and things that wouldn’t. Beth took some of the warmer clothes that were discarded and decided to make scarves with them on their way to the Forest in a couple of days. The east got cold, more snow and ice than they’ve ever experienced in Georgia. They needed to be prepared. 

-=-

It’s still light when Beth suggests that some of them go over to the yard with the swings and let the girls play a little. The group agrees since it’s quiet. They’ve yet to run into another living or previously living thing since they cleared the street out yesterday when they arrived. 

Beth, Maggie, Carl, and Glenn head over to the house, everyone else was fighting for showers or napping before their watch duty tonight.

Beth puts Evelyn in the seat made for babies and shoves her jacket behind her so she doesn’t flop out. Carl is on Judith duty, setting her in the swing next to Evelyn’s and telling her to hold on. 

Carl goes behind Judith and gives her a small push, only accelerating her a couple of inches, just to make sure she’s holding on. Each push he adds a little more force until she’s going back and forth, not too high, but enough to make her laugh a little harder whenever she comes back towards him. Beth smiles and pushes Evelyn lightly, never letting go of the seat. 

Maggie sits up on the wooden fort, her boots against the dirty, plastic yellow slide, while Glenn stands off, keeping watching, but every once and while turning around when he hears a big giggle from Judith. 

Judith always has a good time, she has a lot of people to play with, but there’s nothing like hearing her giggle over something so simple like a swing. Maybe when they find a place to settle down for a long time Daryl can hang up an old tire from an old, thick tree for the kids to play on like she and Maggie and Shawn had back at the farm, out by the duck pond. Daddy would come out when the sun was starting to go down and push her back and forth, sometimes Maggie, too. And they would laugh so hard their tummies hurt. 

She misses him so deeply in her soul. And she knows she’s luckier than most, she got him for such a long time, he got to meet his granddaughter and see both of daughters find good men to settle down with and she got to say goodbye and his death was nice and peaceful compared to most of them these days. But she misses him so badly. They all do.

-=-

“You and me on watch tonight.” Daryl closes the door behind him with his foot, Evelyn sleeping soundly in his arms. “Maggie and Glenn are sleeping in here, told me Evelyn was fine to stay.”

She nods and wraps the hair elastic around the bottom of her braid, her hair still cold and damp from the shower. “I get a gun?” There’s a playful hint to her voice. 

“If you want one. Ain’t gonna keep it from you.” 

“I was thinking I’ll put those medical supplies in some of those plastic boxes you and Rick found, that way they’re not mixed in with the food. Easier to find if someone gets hurt.” 

“Good idea.” Daryl leans over and places Evelyn carefully in her bed. “We need another one of these, bad.” Even if with the repairs to the mesh he had made in the past, it was still dingy and gross, it wouldn’t hold her much longer. 

“I know, it’s ripped and terrible. I asked Glenn if he found anything in the house he found that baby gate and he said there was only a regular wooden crib. We’ll find one, she’s fine for now. She’s still small enough she can sleep in a laundry basket if necessary.”

Daryl lets out a small laugh. “A laundry basket.”

“Better than that cardboard box Judith was in.” 

-=-

Daryl and Beth had the back door while Tyreese and Carol took the front. It was quiet, only the tree frogs croaking off a little ways, and Daryl looking up every time a rustle came from the woods behind the house. Beth was writing out lists for the first aid kits, of what kind of medicine to use for what. Really, they only had some ibuprofen and some allergy pills, but it made her feel better to write down in case someone got separated. Somehow, she had become the first aid person, mainly because the only one who got hurt enough was Judith, but she also learned a lot from her daddy, as did Maggie, but Maggie was out helping the group, Beth was wherever home base was. And Bob had taught her some stuff from his days as a combat medic, but he was off helping the group, just like Maggie. So it came down to Beth. And the way she looked at it, the more people with medical knowledge, the better. 

“Nothing’s out there.” Beth tells him when Daryl stands up from the deck’s table and walks over to the barricaded stairs. 

“Don’t sound like nothin’.” 

“It’s probably a dog or something, maybe a walker.” She looks up and sees he’s studying the barricade of four of the six deck chairs and the grill. “You are not leaving this porch, Daryl.” 

“The hell I ain’t.” He slings his crossbow over his body and carefully moves the grill so he could squeeze through. “Might be a deer.” 

“Daryl!” Beth exclaims in a hushed tone, standing up herself, placing her pen over the notebook paper. “Are you crazy? You’re not supposed to leave.”

“I’ll be fine.” He forcefully shoots back, slowly making his way down the stairs. “Cover me.” 

This is _exactly_ what she needed right now. She makes her way to edge of the porch and pulls her gun from its place in space between her back and her sweatpants and watches as he makes his way through the yard and over to the small patch of trees; crossbow ready. She hears it now, the faint sound of footsteps approaching, leaves and sticks crushing under their shoes. _Oh shit, oh shit._

“Hands up!” Daryl calls, he sees a figure in the distance. He’s unsure if it’s living. “Come out in the light.” Beth wants to laugh, they barely have any light. The candle she was writing her list out with was blocked and a low flame. The moon was blocked by some clouds.

Beth raises her gun and watches as a guy in scrubs comes out of the woods, his hands up like Daryl had so nicely requested. 

“How many with you?” 

“It’s just me—I swear.” 

Daryl doesn’t take his eyes off him, but calls to Beth. “Go get Rick. Now.” 

Her heart is beating so quickly, she can feel it, she can hear it. Of all nights for this to happen. She nearly drops her gun in her scared excitement. Her legs move her through the sliding glass door and through the kitchen and down the hallway and to the front door where she sees Carol and Tyreese sitting. She opens it quickly. “Back porch—Daryl needs backup.” She then runs up the stairs and to the kid’s room where Rick and Michonne were sleeping for the night so Bob and Sasha could sleep together. “Rick!” She rushes over to the far bed, nearing tripping over Carl and Judith on the floor. “Rick!” She shoves his shoulder. “You need to come outside! Now! Daryl has some guy held at his crossbow.” 

Rick looks at her like she’s crazy while he registers what she’s saying. She hears Carl get up behind her. “Rick!” 

“Shit.”

“Hurry up, all he has is Carol and Tyreese.” 

-=-

“What’s your name?” Daryl grunts, keeping his bow pointed. He’s about Beth’s age, maybe a couple years older, really, he can’t tell. He’s dirty and has scratches on his face. 

“Noah.” He swallows the lump in his throat. “I’m not here to cause trouble—I’m just trying to get to Richmond.” 

“Where from?”

“Atlanta. I was in a hospital—I escaped, the people there weren’t good, they grabbed me and left my dad.”

“You’re going the wrong way heading to Richmond.” Daryl scoffs. “Ain’t nobody teach you how to read a map?”

“No? Look, sir, I just want to get on my way, find somewhere to sleep for the night, maybe a change of clothes. Not asking for anything from you except to not shoot me.” 

“Daryl.” Rick comes from behind his hair a mess and his pants down his ass because he forgot a belt. “Who’s this?”

“Says his name’s Noah, from Atlanta. Heard him tramplin’ through the woods.”

“I’m trying to get to Richmond.” Noah interjects.

“Did he ask you?” Daryl grunts. “Says he’s the only one.”

“Do you have any weapons on you, Noah?” Rick asks, stepping forward. 

“A gun, two bullets, and a scalpel. Gun’s tucked into my pants, scalpel in my shirt pocket.” 

Rick walks over to him and grabs the gun, popping the clip to check it before locking it into place and dropping it on the ground behind him, out of reach. Then he reaches for the scalpel in Noah’s pocket, it’s sharp, but not long enough to kill a walker, but it would slit a throat real nice. He shoves it in his pocket and looks at Noah, trying to decide what to do. Before they left they had a policy, take in anyone who wasn’t a threat, and Noah didn’t seem like a threat. But it was different now. Were they going to continue being that group or become ruthless?

“You gonna give those back?”

“Depends.”

“On?”

“You telling us the truth.”

“I _am_ , man. I’ve been walking for two days now, stopping in houses like you all, my feet hurt, I’m hungry and now I got this guy shoving a bow in my face. I _told_ you, I don’t want any trouble. I didn’t even know you were back here, I saw the subdivision sign and thought it looked like a good place to stay for the night.” 

Rick looks up to the deck where Beth is standing with Tyreese, Carol staying in front to make sure they didn’t get attacked. “Beth, get him some water and something to eat.” 

“What’re you doing, Rick?” Daryl asks in a low voice. 

Rick ignores him. “You want to come in? We’ve got a couch you can crash on. There’s nothing left in the houses around here.”

They had to try and be those people—Dale’s words still echoed in Rick’s head, they couldn’t lose their humanity—not again. They made a mistake with sending Sasha and Tyreese away the first time.

“You think I’m a fool?” Noah asks with a laugh. “You’ve got your boy pointing an arrow in my face and now you’re offering me food and shelter?”

“We just look out for people. Totally your choice, you can take the food and water to go. Not gonna hurt my feelings.” 

-=-

Noah ends up coming in, Beth doesn’t see him; she’s too busy fixing up a plate of the leftover rice and peppers from dinner in the kitchen when Daryl and Rick bring him into the dining room. 

“You guys been here long?” Noah asks, thankful Daryl’s bow has been put away. 

Daryl has a scowl on his face, he couldn’t believe Rick brought this guy in here, where his daughter sleeps. “Couple days, we’re heading out soon.”

“Where to?” Noah asks, attempting to make conversation. 

“I think we’ll keep that to ourselves.” Rick answers quickly.

“Fair enough.” 

Beth comes in a minute later, while Rick and Noah and Daryl were all having a stare down, a mental pissing contest, Rick across from Noah at the dining room table and Daryl standing off in the sitting room; eyes locked on him. Any sudden movements; he was going down. 

“Sorry it’s a little cold, we don’t light fires after dark.” She sets the plate and glass of water down in front of him. 

“Thank you. Beth, right?”

“Yeah.” She gives him a small, unsure smile. 

“Beth.” Daryl calls. She looks over and he looks very unimpressed with her hospitality. He nods his head towards the kitchen, signaling for her to go back. And she does it, because she really has no intention of making Daryl upset or getting involved in this Noah situation until she has to. She can’t help that her father raised a nice girl. 

“So is this like my last meal before you kill me?” Noah asks with a slight laugh, scooping up a spoonful of peppers and rice. 

“We aren’t going to kill you.” Rick tells him. “Unless you give us a reason to.”

-=-

Noah crashes on the couch in the couch in the living room with Tyreese keeping watch from the big, cozy loveseat. 

By now Carl is downstairs asking Rick a thousand questions about Noah; why is he here, who is he, are we going to kill him? Rick shrugs off all the questions, telling Carl to go back upstairs and get some sleep after every question. 

Beth moves her first aid kid operation into the dining room, the bins and all of the supplies they had to be separated into threes. Eventually, Carl comes into help and she has him counting pain killers to keep him busy. He doesn’t ask her any questions about Noah, she figures Rick probably told him not to. Or maybe he knows she doesn’t have the answer, it’s not her doing bringing him from the woods and pointing an arrow at his face. 

-=-

“What’re we doing with him?” Daryl asks from the porch, leaning on one of the wooden railings as Rick paces in front of the door. “I can’t believe you brought him to where our kids sleep. What’s wrong with you?”

Rick stops and looks at him. “He’s about Beth’s age—he’s not going to make it alone.”

“He made it this far.”

“We’re heading east anyway, might as well help him get a little closer to Richmond.”

“Are you nuts?” Daryl asks, his voice getting louder. “You want to bring him with us? He could have a hundred people out there waiting for us.”

“He said he’s alone.”

“And you believe that? We don’t know him.”

“Why would he lie?”

“Have you been seeing what we’re living in, Rick? He wants our stuff, his _people_ probably want our stuff.” 

“And they came two days down from Atlanta on the off chance there’s a group? He’s harmless, he gave his weapons over right away.”

“Because I had my bow in his face. We _need_ to cut him loose.” 

“We aren’t turning this into another Randall situation.”

Daryl stops and closes his eyes. The farm. Randall. Shane. The barn. Beth. That whole situation was a clusterfuck of epic proportions. It wasn’t happening again. “So we take him with us?”

“Give him the choice.”

“Ain’t gonna go over well.” 

“We’ll talk to the group before breakfast, if people want him to leave we’ll cut him loose.”


	4. Breakfast

[](http://tinypic.com?ref=14ebdkn)

“These should fit.” Beth hands over a stack of clothes from the ones they took from the houses. It was stuff no one had claimed yet, so there was nothing wrong with giving them away. “There’s a towel, too, some socks, underwear. Might be a little big. Washcloths are in the bathroom, it’s the first door at the top of the stairs. There’s only cold water.” 

“Thanks, Beth.” Noah gives her a small smile. 

“Bring your scrubs down when you’re finished, I’ll wash ‘em for you.” 

“Appreciate it.” 

“Tyreese is going with you.”

“In the shower?” He asks with a slight laugh.

She smiles and shakes her head. “No, he’ll be standing outside the door.”

“I escaped a hospital with electricity for this. My luck.” 

“It’s not so bad. They aren’t going to hurt you, Noah. Not unless you threaten them.” 

-=-

“You _what_?” Sasha nearly yells after Rick explains how they had brought Noah in last night. “You made this decision without telling us—hell, waking us up?” 

“There was no reason to be alarmed, it’s just one boy; he’s harmless.” 

Sasha scoffs. “What are we doing with him?”

“I want us to take a vote, not right now, but at the end of the night. Get to know him, talk to him, see if you’d like for him to join us on our journey east.” 

“You’ve _got_ to be kidding me, Rick.”

“He’s not.” Daryl speaks up. 

“What if he has people?” Glenn asks. “They could be watching us.”

“I don’t think he’s lying to us. He said he escaped from a hospital up in Atlanta, walked here over two days. Saw the sign for the subdivision and thought it’d be nice place to stay before heading towards Richmond.”

“So we’re a taxi service now?” Sasha asks.

“No, but we’re heading that way. Just think about it. Another person in our group means more protection, we’re able to do more things, get more supplies. If enough of you hate the idea after talking with him we’ll cut him loose tomorrow when we leave.”

-=-

There’s a shift in the air, no one talks as they enter the dining room for breakfast. It’s oatmeal, just _oatmeal_. Flavored with the slightest hint of cinnamon. A downgrade from breakfasts past, but it’ll keep them going until lunch. They already had their orders for the day. Carl would be taking Daryl’s place on the house searches, Daryl was making sure Noah didn’t do anything stupid. He signed himself up for that job, he didn’t trust anyone else. Not with Beth in the house, not with Judith in the house, not with Evelyn in the house. 

Beth’s the last one in, Evelyn already sucking away at her breakfast courtesy of Beth’s breast, tank top all wonky, exposing her pale skin. No one had an issue with it, the child had to eat, and considering she barely had teeth, this was the only option. She takes her place between Maggie and Daryl, everyone’s already eating, except Noah who is staring intently at Beth. At Evelyn, a baby. A real baby, born after the turn. He didn’t think he’d ever see one.  
Beth doesn’t notice, she’s too busy making sure Evelyn is okay, but Daryl, oh, he notices. Out of the corner of his eye he watches as Noah’s eyes get wider and study Beth even harder. 

He was not dealing with this, he was not having Beth feel uncomfortable feeding their child because this dweeb sees a boob and starts walking erect. “There a problem?” Daryl asks, setting his spoon down, turning his gaze towards Noah. 

Everyone looks up from their bowl of gray mush, oblivious to the situation around them. They were avoiding the awkwardness of Noah’s presence. 

“What, no?” Noah looks over, spoon in his hand. “I wasn’t—I swear, I was looking. Fuck.”

“You was looking at what? Her tits? She’s trying to feed _our_ daughter. The hell is wrong with you?”

“ _No._ The baby.” 

“You ain’t making this better for yourself.” 

“I think he means he was looking at Evelyn—surprised to see a baby.” Tyreese interjects. “Right, Noah?”

“Exactly! That is exactly what I meant. I didn’t mean no disrespect, I swear, man.”

Daryl grunts. “I catch you looking at her again I will kill you.”

“Daryl—really, it’s fine. I believe him.” Beth says, she’d be shocked to see a baby too if she’d been locked away, Noah seemed innocent enough. “It’s not like he could see anything.”

“It ain’t fine. I mean it, just give me a reason, boy.” 

Beth sighs. This is exactly how she wanted her morning to go. Two arguments within the span of twenty minutes. 

-=-

“I’m sorry about earlier, man. Really.” Noah states as he sits on the garage floor, a box of random items that the car clearing crew had thrown together in front of him. “I swear I wasn’t lookin’ at her.”

Daryl ignores him, continuing to look through the large, red toolbox that sat along the wall the garage shared with the house. There was some other items littering the space, shovels, garden tools, a hose. He’d get to those later. 

“The baby yours?” 

“You don’t know how to take a hint, do you?” 

“I’m just trying to make this pleasant for the both of us.” 

“Yeah, she’s mine.” He figured Beth and Hershel would probably want him to as least try, even though he much preferred the silence. 

“So Beth’s your wife?”

“Not yet.”

“Oh.” Noah starts pulling things out of the box, Rick had told him to separate in threes if possible. “Rick your brother or something?”

Daryl lets out a small chuckle as he pulls out a drawer containing screwdrivers, he needed to find a bag or something to put all this in. “Hell no. What gave you that idea?”

“You just seem close, is all.”

“We just ended up in the same group. My brother’s dead.” 

“I’m sorry.” 

“Sorry about your dad.” Daryl turns around briefly.

“Thanks.” Noah continues to go through the box, pulling out item after item. He wasn’t really sure why they gave him this job, or why they wouldn’t let him leave. They were weird, that’s for sure. “What happens tomorrow when you leave?” 

Daryl scratches his nose before continuing to pull various hammers out of the drawer, they were taking all of these. They left most of the tools back at the prison, only taking a couple pieces they might need. And now they could now leave that piece of shit hammer he and Rick found in that house yesterday. “Cut you loose.”

“Why not let me go now?” 

“Rick said.” 

“Rick the boss?”

“Mhm.” 

“So that’s it?” 

“You expectin’ a cake or somethin’?”

“No.” Noah sighs, picking the charred pieces off a candle wick. “You just seem like good people. Thought maybe you had room for one more.”

“You sure changed your tune.”

“I was scared last night, man. Tired. You had a crazed look in your eye, sharp object pointed at my forehead. You could’ve been cracked on some meth or some shit. I just don’t know if I can make it two more days out there on my own, you know? It’s tough. And all I had is a scalpel, you know how hard it is to kill one of them things with a one inch blade? If I get more than one of ‘em on me at a time; I’m dead, man. But safety in numbers, you know? I got some medical skills, I can earn my keep—I’m a hard worker, Daryl. I swear.”

Daryl, shockingly, does feel sorry for the guy. Not everyone was like him and could handle surviving out there on their own. The Beth thing made him angry briefly, he understood now it was an honest mistake, Noah seemed like a good person. He didn’t trust him completely, Daryl didn’t trust anyone but Evelyn completely, but he was laying on a pretty decent case. “Ain’t up to me. We make decisions as a group.” 

“How’s it looking?” 

“Beth’ll say yes.”

“Just Beth?”

“Rick, Tyreese, maybe Maggie and Glenn.”

“You?”

“Not sure.” 

“So maybe five.” 

“Maybe.”

-=-

Maggie and Carol were the first ones back, they had cleared the five remaining cars on the street, and had filled nearly all of their gas cans; they could definitely make it the Forest tomorrow. Along with the gas they found more magazines, more candles, some jumper cables, some water, and two books of matches. Pretty good for an hour of work. 

Carol went to deposit the box of stuff to Noah and Daryl and Maggie came straight in, her bag a little heavier on her back as she went up the stairs after seeing Beth sitting on the floor in the bathroom and could hear the sounds of Evelyn jumping in her seat. 

“What’re you doing?” Maggie asks with a laugh, plopping her bag on the floor before sitting down next to her sister, facing her smiling niece. 

“Goin’ through the bathroom cabinets. Found a lot of good stuff in the master bedroom. What about you?” She turns and looks at her sister, a bottle of shampoo in her hand. 

“Usual car stuff, Carol is dropping it off with Daryl and Noah.” She scrunches her nose. “I’d love to be a fly on that wall, especially after this morning.” 

Beth sighs. “I’m trying to forget it, thanks.” 

Maggie frowns a little and rubs her sister’s shoulder. “What do you think of him? Noah.” 

“I think he’s a good person. We should give him a chance, Maggie.” 

“What happens if we get out on the road and he turns out not to be a good person?” 

“Then we’ll deal with it then.” Beth looks her sister in the eyes. “Daddy would want us to.” 

Maggie nods. “Let’s not think about it now, look what Carol and I found for my favorite niece.” She smiles, trying to change the subject, she wasn’t sure how she felt about Noah yet. Maggie grabs her pack off the floor and unzips it before digging around inside it. “We’ll have to clean ‘em first, but look! Some of those plastic chain things babies like to play with and a noisy ball. There were some other toys, too, but they weren’t annoying so I didn’t grab them.” She hands them over to Beth, leaving out the state of the toys she didn't bring, covered in blood and walker guts. 

“You do realize you have to listen to them the whole way to Sumter tomorrow, right?” 

Maggie’s face falls a little. “I didn’t think about that. I’ll take them back.” 

“Nope!” Beth smiles, holding the toys to her chest. “Thank you for being so generous and thoughtful, Maggie.” 

Maggie sighs. “And what have you been up to while I was being thoughtful and generous?” 

“Already did the master bedroom, found some medicine and toilet paper. This one is much better. Shampoo, soap, pads—we can use them if someone gets hurt, oh and extra strength deodorant I’m giving to Daryl.” 

“I’m sure Daryl will appreciate that.” Maggie laughs. “I’m going to go see if anyone’s back. Mind if I take the little one?” 

“Go for it.” Beth smiles. 

-=-

“Carol gave me her vote.” Rick tells the group as they gather in the garage. She was watching Noah inside while she cooked. They were out here under the guise of packing of the cars, which, they were doing, but they were also taking a vote on Noah. By now everyone who wanted to talk to him had a chance. “Beth, we’ll start with you.” 

“I think he should come with us.” She holds Evelyn a little closer. 

“Glenn?” Rick asks after marking down a tick on his small piece of paper under a sloppily written _yes_.

“Yes. I think the more people the better.” 

“Maggie?” 

“I agree with Glenn. Yes.” She looks over at Beth and gives her a smile. 

“Sasha?” 

“If we had more time to get to know him I would say yes, but I’m going to have to say no.” 

Rick nods and marks under the opposite column. “Carol says ‘no’ too. Daryl?”

“Nope.” 

Beth lets out a small sigh. She wasn’t surprised. 

“Michonne?”

“Yes.” 

“Tyreese?” 

“Yes, he’s a good kid.” 

“Carl?” 

“No.” Carl states matter-of-factly. “I don’t trust him yet. I agree with Sasha, maybe if we had more time.”

Rick’s eyes widen a bit, looking at his son who just said he wouldn’t let someone come into their group, someone not that much older than him. His first vote as part of the group and he's already disappointed him. “Okay.” Rick lets out a small breath. “Bob?”

“Yes, the more the merrier.” 

“I say ‘yes’, too.” Rick says with a nod. “Four nos and seven yeses. I’ll ask him if he wants to come after dinner. Let’s get back to loading up the cars.”

-=-

That same shift in the air that was present at breakfast time was back. The silent and slow nature of the table, everyone focusing on their food, listening to Judith excitedly talk about her chalk drawing she made with Glenn earlier. Beth wasn’t mad at Daryl, she knew he would say ‘no’ to Noah, that’s the way he is. Back at the prison, he’d invite him in a heartbeat, but things were different now. There wasn’t a steady supply of food, no protection from walkers, they had to go about it on their own now. She understood his thought process of Noah possibly throwing them off or causing them to somehow suffer, but she believed that everyone deserved a chance. 

-=-

“Would you come with me?” Rick asks as Beth lies Evelyn down carefully on the ottoman in the room with the bookcases. 

“Where to?” Beth asks as she unsnaps the bottom of Evelyn’s elephant covered onesie. 

“Ask Noah to come with us. You seem to get along with him better.” 

Beth shrugs as she pulls the stinky diaper off her daughter. “I wouldn’t say that.” She rolls it up and hands it Rick. “Rinse that out?” 

Rick looks at the soiled diaper in his hand and sighs. “Will you come with me?” 

“Since you can’t do it yourself, I guess.” She flashes a smile at him to let him know she’s kidding.

-=-

Beth stood awkwardly on the front porch with Noah and Rick, Evelyn in her arms cooing at the trees around them. 

“We took the vote earlier.” Rick tells him. “If you’d like to come with us, you’re welcome to.”

“And if I don’t?” Noah asks.

“We’ll make you up a care package and send you on your way.” 

“What was the vote? Like how many people said no?” 

“Four nos, seven yeses. Most of us what you to come with us, Noah. We think you can be valuable.” 

“Don’t have any other plans, why not.” Noah nods. “Can I trade in my scalpel for a knife any time soon?” 

Rick lets out a small chuckle. “We’ll talk about it.” 

-=-

“Surprised you ain’t mad.” Daryl leans back against the door as Beth shimmies her jeans off. 

“Why would I be mad?” She bends down and picks them up, loosely folding them before setting them on the dresser. “Because you voted no?” 

Daryl nods. 

“We’re not going to see eye-to-eye on everything, Daryl. That’s life. I get why you said no, I really do. But I don’t think like that, I see the good in people, I’m too trusting, maybe. I don’t know. It doesn’t matter, he’s coming with us, I’m not going to let it affect what we have. We should get to sleep, we’ve got a long day tomorrow.”


	5. Bullet

[](http://tinypic.com?ref=14ebdkn)

Beth woke up earlier than normal. The anxiety of crossing state lines coupled with having a very grumpy baby was making her head and heart race. They had good luck, most of the time, but since they left the prison she can’t help but feel like they’re about due for some kind of traumatic event that rocks their world. She needed to be prepared, Daryl needed to be prepared. She was going to redo their go bags for the second time since they got here. She had just gone over them yesterday while Evelyn snoozed away in her bed, but it helped calm her nerves and there was no way she was going back to sleep. She thought about waking Daryl up and having him help her, but she couldn’t bring herself to do it, he was so exhausted and she knew he wouldn’t stop until they were safe inside this forest. 

She sat on the floor and pulled everything out, carefully placing it in front of her. Four cans of food, a toothbrush and toothpaste, three small candles, a lighter, her notebook and pen, her daddy’s bible she claimed after his death since Maggie and Glenn got his watch, a jacket and change of clothes for Evelyn, extra socks and underwear, diapers and wipes, a small first aid kid, a flashlight, two bottles of water, and a blanket for Evelyn. It wasn’t a lot, but knowing she had these things in case she had to run made her feel better. 

The way she packed Daryl’s messenger bag was nearly identical, except he didn’t care about the toothbrush, instead he wanted a small bit of formula and a bottle for Evelyn. He had this pack for her, not him, he had told her when he looked through it, removing stuff that she had put in there for him like extra underwear and a long sleeve shirt, and replacing it with stuff Evelyn needed. Beth nearly started crying. Daryl was such a good father, even if she had the ability to pick anyone in the world, it’d still be Daryl. 

-=-

The house was empty of all useful things, Maggie had just done the third walk through of the house while everyone else loaded up their bags. Beth shrugged off her purple backpack, handing it to Daryl while Evelyn was perched on her hip, looking around at the people walking back and forth from the garage to the cars, babbling happily when some of her favorite people came into view. 

“Are we almost ready?” She asks, moving Evelyn to other hip. 

“Rick said asses in seats in five.” 

She nods. “Good. I want to get there before dark.” 

“Smart.” Daryl kisses Evelyn’s cheek. “Hope the road ain’t blocked.” 

“You and me both.”

-=-

Beth sat quietly in the back of the van, the thick, leather seats finally starting to become comfortable, cooling to a reasonable temperature. Evelyn was on her lap, sucking away on her second breakfast while Beth tried to calm herself with a book. Maggie was half asleep, looking at an old gossip magazine they found in a car. Beth couldn’t even remember the names of the celebrities on the cover, it’s weird how things change. 

Daryl and Glenn are having a quiet conversation in the front of the van. Beth can’t be bothered to try and listen. Rick is driving the station wagon in front of them, it was a fight before they left between himself and Daryl. Who was going to drive? Daryl put up a decent fight for five minutes, but decided to back down after he realized Rick wasn’t going to and they needed to get on the road if they were going to make it before dark. 

She’s pretty sure they’ve been on the road for three and a half hours now, if her Evelyn feeding clock was right. The kid, unlike her father, needed to eat right on schedule and wouldn’t take no for an answer. She was a big eater; which Beth figures is how Daryl would be if he didn’t need to look out for their group. One day, she hoped, they’d have their own place with their own little garden in the back, maybe a couple chickens, and she could fix him a nice big meal. One where he would be able to have his fill and then some—if he wanted it. He was getting thin with all working he did. The small amount of fat that he did have around his belly was now gone. After the sickness swept the prison and having to rebuild the south wall. The hunting he did, the running. It was catching up to him, small muscles popping out under the skin. 

“The hell is he doing?” Daryl mumbles as he starts to put the brakes on, the red lights of the station wagon go on, then off when Rick opens the driver side door. “If this is about that Noah kid…” Daryl trails off as Beth moves her head so she can see the rearview mirror so she can see Bob’s car in the behind them, he has a confused look on his face. Daryl rolls down his window after putting the van into park as Rick comes closer. Michonne is out of the car now, too, emerging from the back passenger side.  
Rick leans against the door of the car. “Thought we’d top off our gas and stretch our legs. Judith is getting antsy and it seems safe around here.”

Daryl nods and cuts the engine. “Don’t want to spend too long running around here.”

“Just long enough to fill the tanks and find a bush.” 

-=-

Daryl had taken Evelyn from Beth when they got out of the car, leaving Glenn and Maggie to get the gas from the back. 

“How much longer do you figure?” Beth asks, watching the various members of her group scatter along the side of the road. Some people stretching, others venturing two feet into the woods to answer nature’s call. Judith was playing hide and seek with Tyreese and Michonne along the cars, Rick keeping a watchful eye as she hid behind an open car door and Tyreese behind a comically small tree. 

“We’re making good time, maybe another hour or two?” 

“That would be nice.” Beth smiles, tickling the bottom of her daughter’s foot, causing her to smile and stick her tongue out. “Be off the road before dark, maybe sleeping in a cabin.” 

-=-

Sometime after Maggie had buckled Evelyn into her carseat in the backrow and driving down the road, Beth had fallen asleep and only woke up when she felt the car come to a stop. 

Rick’s station wagon was stopped ahead, the engine still running and the brake lights bright. Michonne and Carl were up at a gate, attempting to cut the lock that was on it. Immediately Beth got a bad feeling. Either there were walkers up there or there were people—she wasn’t sure which one was more terrifying. They were at their destination, however, judging by the huge _Francis Marion and Sumter Forest_ sign on either side of the road. 

She held her breath as Rick pulled in and drove a distance far enough up the forest lined road so all three cars could fit and Michonne could relock the fence before they made their way to the campgrounds. Daryl pulls behind him, then Sasha behind the van. Michonne and Carl lock the gate and then run ahead and get back in the station wagon.  
Unsurprisingly, the ranger’s station is empty and the wooden gate to stop people from coming in without paying was broken; just shards hanging from the metal arm, the rest of the wood spread along the road and into the grass beside it. “Might be someone else up here, we better be careful.” Glenn states as he adjusts in the front seat, watching as Noah leans out the passenger side window and grabs a brochure from the plastic container. 

They head up the road, Beth carefully watching her surroundings, looking for anything out of the ordinary. It was mostly greenery with a few walker corpses every few feet. Bullet holes as opposed to the slits created by knives. Rick turns on the path towards the campground. 

It’s not a quick drive, they go deeper and deeper into the forest, until a sign for the campground appears on the left. They keep going until they’ve come into a hornets nest of activity. Walkers are roaming around the RVs parked neatly in rows, coming closer not only to the three people trying to fight them off from a large military vehicle, but closer to their cars as well. Rick doesn’t even hesitate, he’s out of the station wagon quickly, chopping with his hatchet, Michonne with her katana, covering Carl who has Judith in his arms as runs back to the van. Maggie grabs her machete from the floor and jumps out of the van, holding the door open for Carl and Judith. Glenn gets out and runs to the station wagon, an extra weapon in his hand for Noah. Daryl leans back in the driver’s seat and touches Beth’s knee gently before grabbing his crossbow from the floor of the passenger side and hauling ass to cover Rick. Sasha, Bob, and Carol all run by quickly, heading towards the action to help the strangers, while Tyreese stands in front of the van, protecting Beth, Carl, and the girls from any walkers that may make it too close for comfort. 

Carl is trying to catch his breath, holding onto Judith in Maggie’s vacated seat. She’s got watery eyes and a look of confusion on her face as she tries to look around, wondering why her brother ripped her out of the car so quickly to bring her into the van. 

“It’s okay, Jude.” Beth smiles, reaching out to touch her cheek. 

“I should be out there helping them.” Carl states. “Not in here. You can watch the kids, can’t you? You and Tyreese. I should helping; I’m fifteen.” 

“Your dad sent you back here to help me.” Beth tells him, allowing Judith to crawl into her lap. “What if a bunch of them come up to the van and Tyreese needs help?”

He sighs. “I guess.” 

Beth feels bad, because she knows Carl wants to have more responsibility, but she’s not sure if right now is the best time for that, considering the circumstance; four dozen walkers and a group of people they don’t know isn’t exactly the time to start letting Carl fight. 

Judith finally starts to calm down after receiving a stuffed cat that Daryl had gotten for Evelyn sometime before they left the prison. Beth and Carl remain quiet, trying to watch the scene before them—their family out there fighting; killing walkers and covering each other. Maggie and Carol had started to open any RV door they could to let walkers that had been inside out, so when it came to searching there wouldn’t be any surprises. There was only a man and woman up on the military vehicle, one of the other women had either been shot or had come down. Judith hummed on Beth’s lap, making the cat dance on her frayed jeans. There were more corpses on the ground than there were walkers roaming around, hopefully they’d be done soon and Rick could see if these people were good or bad. 

A woman in pigtails that Beth had never seen before comes into her view, she’s scared for a moment, thinking that she’s not friendly, but then she notices Noah with her, she’s dragging him thanks to his bum leg and she notices a red spot on his shoulder. She’s shouting something and Beth can’t understand because of the gunfire and the insulation of the van. Tyreese raises his gun briefly, but then lowers it and bangs on the door of the van. Carl looks at Beth, asking what he should he do, and Beth nods, signaling to open it. “Get in the front seat.” 

Carl does what he’s told, opening the door and then climbing into the front seat, watching as this woman takes off back to the fight, leaving Noah in their care. Tyreese helps him into the vacated seat and Beth’s mind is running a million miles a second. “What happened?” 

“There was one coming towards me from behind and that girl tried to shoot it,” Noah cringes. “but the first bullet hit me instead of the head.” 

“Let me see.” Beth helps him move so she can see his shoulder better. “It looks like the bullet went through, we’ll have to have Bob look at it. He’s the only one that has real medical training.” Beth leans down and grabs Evelyn’s diaper bag and hands it off to Carl. “Get a clean towel out of there? We need to keep pressure on it.” 

Carl does what he's told and begins to root through the bag in search of a clean cloth to hold onto Noah's wound until Bob could take a look at it. 

When Evelyn starts to cry, Beth begins to panic. It's becoming too much; Noah being hurt, her daughter scared, her child's father out of sight, her entire family out there with those walkers and people that they didn't know. Judith begins to whine too and she's so thankful when Carl looks at her, cloth in hand, and tells her to go into the back of the van with the girls--that he could do this. 

Beth nods and they play musical chairs again, she heading to the back to tend to the girls and Carl taking her seat, folding the cloth into fours before pressing it to Noah's wound. "Snack?" Judith asks as Beth takes Evelyn out of the carseat and tries to calm her. "Not now, Judith." Beth sighs, even if there wasn't a wounded guy in front of her and a fussy baby on her lap there was no way she could get to the tub of food in the back. "I'm hungry." Judith whines, sticking her bottom lip out, a trick that worked on nearly everyone in the prison, including her. "Judith I promise when your daddy gets back you can have a snack." 

-=-

It's twenty minutes of crying between the two youngest members of the group until Glenn comes back to the van, blood on his face, out of breath. "It's done." He tells them. "A couple people are meeting with that group now to see what they're all about." 

"That's good." Beth nods, nearly in tears from the entire situation. 

"Bob's on his way over, too. We saw what went down with Noah."

"Yeah, it went clean through, he should be fine." Beth nods and Judith begins to wiggle past her to Glenn. "It's just better to be safe than sorry." 

Glenn knows she's at wits ends and gives her an emphatic smile. "Let me clean up and I'll take Judith off your hands." 

-=-

"Ho _ly_ shit!" Rick watches as the giant redhead jumps off the military vehicle, a smile forming under his handlebar mustache. "I never seen anything like that."

"Excuse me?" Rick asks watching as he checks out his ride, making sure nothing had breached its metal barrier. 

"The way you all came in here guns blazing. Sure saved us from shit creek." He opens the passenger side door to reveal a heavier set guy with a mullet, who was trembling a little. "You can come on out now, Eugene." 

Rick turns to Daryl and gives him the 'what in the hell is going on' look. "You four military?"

"I am." He turns around. "Sargent Abraham Ford." 

"I'm Rick, this is Daryl and Sasha." He motions to each of them with his head.

"This here is Dr. Eugene Porter and he's gonna save the whole god damn world."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi yeah, sorry for sucking.  
> i'm *hoping* to be back until i finish stuff. i think i just needed a break from bethyl because honestly it was so painful after coda and for a while i thought they really might bring her back since we literally got 0 answers and 0 closure but i have now completed my seven stages of grief and while i still miss her in the show, i think i can finally write the stories that i wanted to happen between beth and daryl. there was also some personal shit going on over the haitus too but whatever time to move on  
> so, fair warning, i might fall off ao3 but, i'm not going to completely abandon anything without letting yall know first. as of right now, i will be attempting to finish this fic, ghost, and open road. it may take a while, but i'm going to _try_ and really try. also i'm almost completely caught up with all of the criminal minds episodes on netflix so theres no time like now.  
>  thanks so much for holding on and coming back, i appreciate it and i love you and now let us bask in bethyl baby-ness because there is not enough of it and its my personal mission to make it so


End file.
